Two years after rift over Joe Rogan, Neil Young returns to Spotify

Around two years after Neil Young pulled his catalogue from Spotify in response to its hosting of controversial podcasts from presenter Joe Rogan, the Canadian folk rock star once again is back on the streaming platform.

"Spotify, where you get less quality than we made, will now be home of my music again," Young posted on his website, criticizing the relatively low sound quality offered by Spotify compared some platforms offering higher quality audio streams.

At the beginning of 2022, the musician had withdrawn his music on the grounds that he did not want to be present on a platform that was spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

At the time, Spotify was the home of the world's most streamed podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience. Medical experts questioned the host's distrust in health officials at a time when the spread of the coronavirus was killing tens of thousands and also his airing of what they said were unproven theories related to the pandemic.

Spotify publicly regretted Young's decision at the time, but complied with it.

However, Young now says that other platforms also have such misinformation and podcasts in their programmes.

If he were to remove his music from all of these platforms, his fans would have significantly less access to it, which is why he is now returning to Spotify - even if he also disagrees with what he considers to be their poor sound quality.

Spotify did not initially comment on the decision.